Finally healthy, Tigers' Verlander poised for redemption

Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, along with other players including Nick Castellanos, back right, answer questions from the fans at the North American International Auto Show stop on the winter caravan in 2015.(Photo: Julian H. Gonzalez Detroit Free Press)

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Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander looks at the new Ford GT sports car during a winter caravan stop at the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center in Detroit on Friday, Jan.23, 2015. Verlander has made mention in the past about wanting to own the sports car and made a special trip to view the vehicle.
Julian H. Gonzalez, Detroit Free Press

Detroit Tigers TV broadcaster Rod Allen greets Brandon Rickert from Mount Clemens, who was special guest from the Tigers Dreams Come True program during the winter caravan stop at the North American International Auto Show.
Julian H. Gonzalez, Detroit Free Press

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Last season started after off-season core-muscle surgery, an operation Verlander wouldn't excuse his career-worst year for but an operation he said "had to affect a lot."

"I don't want to make excuses," he said. "I definitely didn't talk about it last year, but after talking with the therapist this year, it definitely did have an effect, and I'm sure it had a pretty big one."

Verlander said, with a full off-season, he added 20 pounds of muscle. He has been throwing for a while — not off a mound yet — whereas at this time last year, he was just getting on his feet again.

He will turn 32 on Feb. 20, and the triple-digit fastball he used to rear back and blow by hitters with ease has disappeared.

Entering the final third of his contract — he is due $140 million through 2019, his age 36 season — it stands to reason the time has come for Verlander to make adjustments on the mound.

He told the Free Press he is tinkering with a new pitch. What that pitch is he wouldn't say, but a split-fingered fastball or cutter would seem to complement his fastball/change-up/curveball/slider repertoire.

He doesn't know whether that pitch will make enough progress to make an impact this season.

"You can't really go about it until you get out there pitching, so we'll see," he said.

And despite the optimism, until he gets out there pitching during the regular season — Verlander was dominant last spring, allowing nary a run — the Tigers can only believe in a bounce-back year.

"So am I," he said. "That's why I put in all this hard work in the off-season. My mind-set is to get back to being me. Obviously, I wasn't satisfied with last year, I wasn't happy with that at all. But the past is the past. There's nothing you can do about that at all."